"A year ago, I sat in Dr. Nagaraj’s class as Dr. Vyas presented on their work with Girl Rising," says second-year MCH student Alyssa Baer. "That lecture left a lasting impression and fueled my passion for advocating for the rights and educational opportunities of girls throughout the world." Fast forward a year and Alyssa and first-year MCH student Jen Farnsworth landed in Mexico City as part of the on-the-ground monitoring and evaluation efforts with Girl Rising.
"I've been itching to work on this Girl Rising project ever since I committed to GW," says Jen. "The hands-on experience of creating survey instruments, pilot-testing the materials, and working with the community partners, students, and educators in Mexico was the best education I could have asked for."
"I had a few minutes to watch as the kids played at recess. Time seemed to slow and I found myself looking at individual students—considering the challenges they may have endured and, yet, the potential they each have to do immense good in their communities and throughout the world. I felt such love, gratitude, and hope for each of them."
Alyssa Baer
Second-Year MPH Student
Dr. Amita Vyas and Dr. Nitasha Nagaraj have been working with Girl Rising for years, with several publications associated with its gender sensitization curriculum in various countries throughout the world. This year, in addition to supervising Alyssa and Jen in Mexico, they traveled to Ghana and conducted similar pilot testing with students and educators there.
Our MCH director, Dr. Vyas, says "'Investing in women and girls' has become a popular buzz term and at times it feels like there is a lot of discussion - and less action (given the continued grim statistics in most parts of the world). But today I am grateful and hopeful because I had the honor of traveling to where organizations are making a real difference in the lives of women and girls."
"It was a humbling experience to learn and grow from the real change agents, our partners CIAM, Glasswing, Dels Foundation and the Exploratory. These young boys and girls will see positive change because of you."
Dr. Nitasha Nagaraj
Associate Professor
The GW team will continue to work through the summer to assist in monitoring and evaluation of the Girl Rising curriculum as it is implemented in schools throughout Ghana and Mexico.